⚡️Batteries Could Replace Three California Power Plants⚡️
The Metcalf Energy Center in San Jose, shown under construction in 2004. Under a new proposal at the California Public Utilities Commission, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. might replace the plant’s output with batteries and other resources.
Three California power plants burning fossil fuels might be replaced with batteries, under a proposal state utility regulators will discuss in January.
If approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, the proposal would direct Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to search for energy storage projects that could replace the output of the three plants, two of them located in Yuba City, the third in San Jose. The commission’s five voting members are scheduled to vote on the issue on Jan. 11.
The plants, which include the Metcalf Energy Center in south San Jose, are no longer economical to run at current electricity prices, according to the proposal from the commission’s energy division. But the organization that runs most of the state’s electricity grid, the California Independent System Operator, has said this year that all three are necessary to ensure the reliability of the grid in the areas they serve.
The two plants in Yuba City — the Feather River Energy Center and the Yuba City Energy Center — are small “peaker” plants that only run during periods of high electricity demand, each generating a maximum of 47.6 megawatts of electricity. Metcalf is somewhat larger, capable of producing 605 megawatts. A megawatt is a snapshot figure roughly equal to the amount of electricity used by 750 typical homes at any given moment.
Although Metcalf opened in 2005, the plant now needs “significant upgrades” if it stays open, according to the proposal.
PG&E last week announced plans to replace an old peaker plant in Oakland’s Jack London Square neighborhood with solar power and batteries.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Batteries-could-replace-three-California-power-12428238.php